At last we are in Nanchang!

38 hours later we are relaxing at the Gloria Grand Hotel in Nanchang. We walked in the front door to a row of babies in identical strollers having their pictures taken with their smiling new parents. This must be the right place. Our guide Monica picked us up at the airport and with the help of her trusty driver delivered us in short order to the hotel.
With the exception of the raw duration, the whole trip went quite well. Our flight from Tokyo to Guangzhou was overbooked but NW had quickly made arrangements for us on Japan Airlines. It was a spacious, practically empty flight with delicious Japanese food and just about one stewardess per person. It got us there an hour earlier (and they also gave us 2000 bonus miles for the "inconvenience"!). The international flights are really nice now as you can pick your own movie and start and stop it whenever you want!
We were up early this morning to catch our last short flight here. We enjoyed a nice noodle soup breakfast at the airport. Not sure if this is what the locals do, but we didn't see any other Americans eating there so maybe. Shown is Marnie savoring her "seafood" soup with the squid tentacles. Yes, we must not forget the "variety" of ingredients found in the food here. Marnie was a real trouper and ate them all except for the one I tried. Mmmm, just like chicken. I had the noodle soup with meat ball and hot sauce, not really worthy of a picture.

We did not get a lot of sleep last night in Guangzhou. The beds were very authentic. Marnie suspects they had the mattress and box spring mixed up. We struggled to make sure we used the boiled water to brush our teeth. I only found two TV stations not in Chinese. Felt a little embarrassed at the Japanese and Chinese airports with our massive roller suitcases, given everyone else's bags were less than half the size. I suppose they are on smaller trips, and technically we are packed for 3+. Still I could not escape the feeling of being the wasteful American with our SUVs, hummers, and super sized roller suitcases invading their country.

Dave